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Wife of suspect pleads not guilty to tampering with Broomfield murder scene

By Megan Quinn

Enterprise Staff Writer

Posted:
02/07/2014 10:05:14 AM MST

Updated:
02/07/2014 10:05:37 AM MST

Carissa Koch

A woman accused of cleaning blood stains from the floor after a deadly argument at her Broomfield home in August has pleaded not guilty.

Carissa Koch, 27, appeared Friday in Broomfield District Court, where she pleaded not guilty to charges of accessory to a crime and tampering with physical evidence.

Her trial is set for July 21. She will appear in court again for a motions hearing on May 2.

Koch is the wife of Matthew P. Burnett, 32, who has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of James Clifford Fernandez.

Burnett also has been charged with possessing child pornography.

The body of Fernandez, 34, was found in a street in Westlake the morning of Aug. 17. He died, according to an arrest affidavit, after an argument with Burnett at the couple's home.

Burnett told police he dragged Fernandez into the street hoping a passerby would discover him. The argument apparently started because Burnett found Koch in a "compromising position" with Fernandez, according to the arrest affidavit.

Burnett told police he didn't mean to hurt his friend, but "just panicked" after Fernandez lost consciousness, according to the affidavit.

Fernandez's body was reported in the street in the 2500 block of West 134th Circle near Alcott Street shortly before 6:30 a.m. Aug. 17.

Koch is suspected of attempting to clean up blood stains at the home just after Fernandez's death.

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In an arrest affidavit, police stated Koch was "in the process of cleaning" several blood stains when officers arrived to interview the couple on Aug. 17. Koch told police she had been cleaning the stains, but believed they were vomit stains.

Police also observed a trail of blood stains just inside the front door of the home, on the front porch and on a driveway leading into the street where Fernandez was found, the arrest affidavit states.

When police questioned Koch, she said she had not seen or heard an altercation between Burnett and Fernandez. She said the last time she had last seen Fernandez was about midnight.

Burnett's arraignment, originally scheduled for Jan. 2, was postponed until March 6.

Burnett also faces additional felony charges after police say thousands of images of child pornography were found on computers taken from his home, which was once the site of a home day care center run by Koch.

Detectives said two hard drives taken from the home contained 2,475 images and 129 videos of child pornography.

The arrest affidavit describes Burnett as a "collector of pornography in general, and specifically child pornography."

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